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Updated: Jun 15, 2025
Signal Acquisition, Score Interpretation, and Economics of a Non-Invasive Point-of-Care Test for Coronary Artery Disease
Published on: August 9, 2024
Increased coronary artery disease severity in patients undergoing invasive diagnostics during the COVID-19 pandemic
Tomasz Wcisło1, Karolina Kołodziej1,2, Marcin Książczyk1
1Medical University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland (Department of Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Arrhythmias, Military Medical Academy, Memorial Teaching Hospital).
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic correlated with advanced coronary heart disease, necessitating more complex angioplasty procedures and increased medical device use. This study compared invasive cardiac diagnostics before and during the pandemic.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Medical Device Utilization
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare delivery and potentially disease progression.
- Assessing changes in coronary heart disease (CHD) management is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the stage of CHD in patients undergoing invasive cardiac diagnostics before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the number of medical devices used and complex coronary angioplasty procedures performed.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective, single-center study included 187 patients with diagnosed CHD.
- Patients were divided into two groups: pre-pandemic (N=92) and during pandemic (N=95).
Main Results:
- Procedures during the pandemic showed significantly higher stent length and contrast use.
- Fluoroscopy time and procedure duration were significantly longer during the pandemic.
- While not statistically significant, more stents per patient were used in 2021.
Conclusions:
- Coronary atherosclerosis progression was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Increased complex coronary angioplasty procedures led to a significant rise in medical device usage (guidewires, balloons) and procedure duration.
Background:
This study aimed to compare the stage of coronary heart disease in patients who underwent invasive cardiac diagnostics during the COVID-19 pandemic and before, based on the number of medical devices used and the number of complex coronary angioplasty procedures performed.
Material And Methods:
A retrospective, single-center study was conducted, which included 187 successive patients with diagnosed coronary heart disease, who were divided into 2 groups: group I (N = 92, pre-COVID-19 pandemic) and group II (N = 95, during COVID-19 pandemic).
Results:
Despite a comparable number of invasive procedures in both groups, stent length and contrast use per procedure were significantly higher during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, a higher number of stents was used per patient in 2021, however, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.0817). Similarly, fluoroscopy time per procedure and procedure duration were significantly longer in the 2021 group. Among patients treated during the COVID-19 pandemic, higher glucose concentration, blood pressure parameters, low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol were observed; however, these differences were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, coronary atherosclerosis progression were found, requiring a higher number of complex coronary angioplasty procedures, which contributed to a statistically significant increase in the number of medical devices used (angioplasty guidewires, angioplasty balloons) and procedures duration. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(4):333-342.
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